MINUTES

WALKERSVILLE BURGESS & COMMISSIONERS TOWN MEETING

September 27, 2006

The Town meeting of the Walkersville Burgess & Commissioners was called to order on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. Those in attendance included Burgess Ralph Whitmore, Commissioners Sam Eyler, Joe Magluilo, Don Schildt, Chad Weddle, and Debbie Zimmerman, Town Manager Gloria Long Rollins, Public Works Director Bob DePaola, Planning and Zoning Administrator Susan Hauver, Public Works Supervisor Dennis Miller, Frederick County Commissioner Mike Cady, 12 citizens, and 0 press.

The meeting was called to order with the Pledge of Allegiance.

1. MINUTES

Commissioner Debbie Zimmerman made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Joe Magluilo, to approve the Town Meeting minutes of September 13, 2006. The motion passed by a vote of 5-0.

2. CITIZENS’ QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

Mr. George Rudy, of 11 West Crum Road, presented his continuation of the following concerns:

Cellular Communications Issues

1. Commissioner Weddle’s statement that the Discovery Tower falls under the county’s jurisdiction as it is outside of Walkersville Town limits. Mr. Rudy stated that as county residents, it will be handled there.
2. Mr. Rudy stated that the Burgess & Commissioners do not tell anyone what they are doing on this whole subject. (Burgess Whitmore interjected that the Town held meetings for a year on the subject of cellular towers, all held in front of the public.)
3. Mr. Rudy stated that technical issues remain open regarding emissions. He stated he has requested information and not received it. He stated emissions reports are not in the town files. He will go to the FCC on the matter.
4. Regarding the financial aspects, Mr. Rudy’s friend in Howard County, who owns two private cellular towers will meet with him tomorrow. He stated the Town is subsidizing the industry and he’ll prove that.
5. As far as legal matters, Mr. Rudy reiterates that due process has been circumvented and he will review this in Annapolis once the election is done.

3. COMMISSIONER RESPONSE TO CITIZEN CONCERNS

Commissioner Joe Magluilo asked to address Mr. Rudy’s concerns received by email prior to the meeting. He assured Mr. Rudy that Ms. Rollins had responded to his request for time to present his concerns and Mr. Rudy was given a copy of the email response. Commissioner Magluilo noted that Mr. Rudy has made numerous assertions and accusations of the Town which, when evaluated, contain many inaccuracies and missteps in the assertions.

In regards to Mr. Rudy’s request for RF emissions and ionization energy emitted, Mr. Magluilo researched what this meant. He stated that the ionization process Mr. Rudy is talking about is incorrect. The RF energy that is emitted from the antennas on the water tower is non-ionizing energy. Mr. Rudy interjected that "we hope". Commissioner Magluilo responded that if it were ionizing energy with thermal dispersion, we would probably see it glow at night. Mr. Magluilo stated that he can ionize a molecule or a compound, which he has done on a daily basis for 25 year, and it takes enough energy for that to happen that it does visibly glow. Therefore Mr. Rudy is inaccurate in the ionization process and assumptions that he is accusing the Town of not monitoring. Mr. Magluilo consulted the FCC website and asked a telecommunications attorney about the main concerns. Paraphrasing their response, the level of RF energy that one would realistically be exposed to from a cell tower is less than 1% of the maximum permissible exposure. Translating this – the energy that one is exposed to while holding a cell phone to the head is approximately 100 times the RF energy exposure received from being in the vicinity of a cell tower. Mr. Magluilo explained the basis for cell towers being up in air is because of their locations in big cities where roof tops become recreational areas. They have to be up in order to work and to protect people in dense areas from being too close to the equipment. In our litigious society, it makes sense to have these facilities segregated to protect people from the energy. He reiterated that Mr. Rudy’s assumptions about the energy and the ionization of the energy are incorrect. (Mr. Rudy requested the opportunity to come back at Mr. Magluilo. After it was determined that Mr. Magluilo would retire as a Commissioner as of Oct. 11, he agreed to come back from time to time should the issues resurface.)

Mr. Magluilo went on to address Mr. Rudy’s concern regarding "ionizing radiation conditions in and about the site necessitates qualifications of persons who can be allowed on site to perform maintenance including basic water tower equipment". Mr. Magluilo noted Mr. Rudy’s connection of the town’s wireless contracts to the contract with Utilities Services Company, which are two separate issues, was completely inaccurate again. Issue A is the location of wireless facilities on the water tower, for which we held hearings for adoption of the ordinance and location of AT&T service. Issue B is maintenance of our water towers. He noted that hearings were held and documented in the minutes and that he knows they happened, as he was present for them. Commissioner Magluilo stated that Mr. Rudy continues to deny this and is fearful that the continuous repetition of the inaccuracies will be believed to be the truth. He reiterated that Mr. Rudy is wrong and the minutes are available should he choose to review them. Commissioner Magluilo informed Mr. Rudy that we contracted with Utility Services Company for the health and safety of the towers, the quality of our water, and the health and safety of our citizens. Previous administrations had waited until the towers needed refurbishment and they had to spend $200,000 to completely repair and rehab the structure. This board chose to be proactive and enter into perpetual maintenance agreements, whereby that cost is broken down over six years. Rental income from the wireless telecommunications facilities has been earmarked to assist in offsetting the costs of tower maintenance. This is not subsidizing the cellular community at all.

In reference to Mr. Rudy’s assertion that Utility Services Company replaces Town Department of Public Works at a higher cost to the taxpayers, Commissioner Magluilo stated that this is inaccurate. We have not used Town Department of Public Works to inspect and repair the towers. That work has always been done by qualified professional contractors. Our staff does not do that, as it involves climbing into the tower in a scuba suit. They don’t do it and never have. We use qualified contractors at a very high cost, $200-300K later on in the life cycle of a tower. We have decided to be proactive, not reactive, in this process by setting aside money annually to do continuous monitoring, inspection, and repair of the towers. Instead of letting a tower fall into shambles, we decided to use perpetual maintenance services. We use rental income from the cellular facilities to offset maintenance costs on towers that we must maintain, and he fails to see how this is a subsidy to the cellular industry.

In response to Mr. Rudy’s assertion that "the Burgess and Commissioners, individually and collectively negated their fiduciary obligations when they unilaterally set aside three required public hearings regarding the matter at hand", Commissioner Magluilo does not understand how it becomes a fiduciary issue. Semantics aside, he disagrees with Mr. Rudy, as a public hearing was held as required and no public comments were received. A public hearing was held after the wireless ordinance was introduced and before it was adopted. Then a public hearing was held when the AT&T permit was recommended by our consultants. There were no negative comments received. We have the dates and the minutes to document this. Commissioner Magluilo believes Mr. Rudy knows this, but refuses to accept that it took place. He cannot understand why Mr. Rudy continues to tell commissioners that no public hearing was held when he, Commissioner Magluilo, knows they were held and was present for them. In addition, there is no public hearing required for a co-location on a tower, so Commissioner Magluilo pointed out that the number of hearings that Mr. Rudy thinks we didn’t have is inaccurate.

Commissioner Magluilo, referring to Mr. Rudy’s claim that developers have offered to pay for signals at the Crum Road/Rt. 194 intersection and the Town refused to take the money, has never heard of that before, doesn’t know where that even came from. He would like to discuss this if any of the other commissioners are familiar with this. He does not know what Mr. Rudy is talking about. He has no recollection or knowledge of any developer approaching the Town with a plan to put up lights at Rt. 194 and that they would pay for it. He does recall during discussions of the comprehensive plan, the suggestion that the Town pay for the dualization of Rt. 194 because of the Town’s positive cash flow. Rt. 194 is a state road and therefore, not the Town’s responsibility, nor would we be allowed to do any construction on the road. The suggestion that the Town give the money to the State and let them do the work was not a feasible or reasonable idea. Commissioner Magluilo stated that the email is riddled with inaccuracies and mistakes, which are continually discussed without being challenged. He wishes that Mr. Rudy would stop propagating these inaccuracies and accusing the commissioners of fiduciary mismanagement of the town, when we have retired the debt of the Town. The Town carries $0 debt, has one of the lowest tax rates for a municipality in Maryland, our roads are in good shape, and our parks are in good shape. We have made major improvements to the underground infrastructure of old town. Plans are in place for continued capital improvements, so he does not understand and actually takes offense to the accusations of fiduciary mismanagement that are continuously promoted by Mr. Rudy.

In reference to the complaint of the alarm at the Fuel Worx, Commissioner Magluilo was in the vicinity of the alarm on the day and time in question. He didn’t notice the noise but it has been reported that the alarm was going on for several hours. He stated that the Town has received no other complaints. When Mr. Rudy requested an ordinance 2 years ago to regulate alarm systems, the Burgess and Commissioners felt it was not necessary at the time. Mr. Rudy wasn’t ignored, they considered the request and just didn’t agree on implementing an ordinance. Commissioner Magluilo still believes that an ordinance to regulate burglar alarms is not necessary when there have been 2 incidences in 2 years.

Commissioner Magluilo stated that he understands they are replacing MTBE, methyl tertiary butyl ether, and it will no longer be part of petroleum. He understands they are substituting for it with smaller chained hydrocarbons or ethanol, substances that are less contaminative to the ground and groundwater. He stated that the MTBE issue does exist, but that it has not been proven to exist here and just because it exists somewhere else does not mean it exists here. He chastised Mr. Rudy for continually throwing out to us that it’s a problem when it’s not been proven that it is. He suggested a simple solution would be to take a water sample and send it out for analysis. Commissioner Magluilo stated that he really didn’t want to go into the MTBE issue tonight, but wanted to discuss the inaccuracies regarding telecommunications, the "Town courting of communications companies", another inaccuracy. We were one of the last to come on board, only because we were forced to by Federal mandate. The "Telecommunications Act of 1996" by the Federal government mandated that we could not legislate the telecommunications companies out of business. They are required to provide the service and we cannot turn them away just because we don’t want them to be here. This is a Federal law, not a State or Town law. He suggested it is easier to vent the frustration out on the Town government because we’re here every other Wednesday, but Mr. Rudy would better spend his time taking this issue up with the Federal government. We’ve held ourselves accountable to that legislative act, to the Town ordinance which we passed, in the forum of public hearings, and we’ve done the best we can, given the situation that we are in.

4. HOME OCCUPATION PROPOSED TEXT AMENDMENT

Ms. Susan Hauver reviewed a proposal from Ms. Sandra Day of Day’s Catering. She proposes to purchase the residence at 18 W. Frederick Street and convert the detached garage into a commercial kitchen for her catering business. Since the zoning is R-3, Town zoning regulations would not allow her to do this. Ms. Day was present to get feedback on whether to propose a zoning text amendment or conduct a feasibility study on getting approval to do this. After much discussion, the commissioners agreed that this use could not be approved.

5. REVISIT TOWN PARK SIGNS AND DEFINITION OF "SUNSET"

After much discussion again on the topic of closing the parks at sunset rather than a set hour, Commissioner Debbie Zimmerman made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Chad Weddle, to change all park signs hours to "Parks open 7 a.m. to Sunset". The motion passed by a vote of 4-1, with Commissioner Schildt opposed.

6. WALKERSVILLE REGION PLAN - TOWN COMMENTS

Burgess Whitmore introduced Frederick County Commissioner Mike Cady as a good friend to Walkersville over the past 4 years. Commissioner Cady reminded the public of the County Commissioners’ hearing Thursday at 7:00 p.m. He stated that Walkersville’s region plan will be on the fast track to be completed with this Board of County Commissioners. Then a two-prong process will be implemented so that the county is working on two plans simultaneously and plans are completed more often than every 12-13 years. During their meeting reviewing Walkersville’s region plan, one change was made, to make the Glade Valley horse farm property all agricultural. He voted for this based on the letter from the Town of Walkersville requesting it. He has tried to support the wishes of the local municipalities. Commissioner Cady reminded everyone of the county public hearing next Tuesday, October 3, 7:00 p.m., on the legislative package to be presented in Annapolis. His proposals include a bill on underage drinking and a bill dedicating a stream of funding for modernization of older schools. He noted the following improvements scheduled on the Board of Education educational facilities master plan to be approved by the County Commissioners: 2009 Walkersville Elementary Addition, 2010 Walkersville High Addition, 2011 Roof on Walkersville Middle School. Commissioner Cady applauded Burgess Whitmore on the initiative a year ago on bulk trash. Burgess Whitmore had scheduled a bulk trash pickup for the Town and asked the county commissioners to help fund it by waiving the tipping fees at the landfill. Since then a credit for tipping fees has been implemented for all municipalities and residents outside of municipalities.

Commissioner Magluilo supports the citation for underage drinking.

Commissioner Weddle asked Commissioner Cady to confirm that the county has an ordinance regulating alarm systems. Commissioner Cady noted the serious problem of false alarms has been reduced by 50% since the ordinance was enacted. Improperly maintained alarms have been reduced in order to allow the police to have time for real police work.

Ms. Hauver went over the Planning Commission revised comments for the Walkersville Region Plan. She noted that the county plan has incorporated several of the comments from the town. Our comments reinforced that we wanted to retain the community growth boundaries.

7. CITIZENS’ QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

Ms. Sandra Day, returned to the meeting to inform commissioners of changes in plans for the home business she hopes to locate at 18 W. Frederick Street. She proposes to move her planned commercial kitchen from the garage to the basement of the house, have no deliveries. Ms. Hauver stated they seem to be trying to comply with our current regulations for home occupations. She stated if they can live within those regulations, they cannot be turned down. As the upper 2 floors are considered living space, they will be living in 100% of the living space. Burgess and commissioners asked that they not have any noisy equipment or do any late cleaning of commercial kitchen fans.

8. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

9. COMMISSIONERS’ CONCERNS

Commissioner Schildt noted that the lights at Memorial Park and Creamery Park are out and bulbs need to be replaced. He also noted the success of the Farmers’ Market and hoped that it would start a bit earlier in the year next year. He brought to our attention that Mrs. Ann Hunt had passed away and had been instrumental in the development of Community Park on Kenneth Drive.

Commissioner Don Schildt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Sam Eyler, to plant a tree in Mrs. Ann Hunt’s memory in one of the Town parks. The motion passed by a vote of 5-0.

Commissioner Debbie Zimmerman reminded everyone of the dedication of Trout Memorial Park on Sunday, October 1, at 2:00 p.m. and encouraged everyone to attend the Walkersville Community Show held at the high school this week.

Burgess Whitmore announced that he would be meeting with Mayor Jeff Holtzinger, in about a month, regarding Frederick City’s plans and the proposed bypass around Frederick (i.e. the Big Red Road).

Commissioner Magluilo reminded staff about the shoving problem on Highlander Blvd. and Cramer Avenue. Dennis noted it was on next year’s schedule.

Public Works Director Bob DePaola informed Commissioners that Walkersville is required by MDE, as is every other water system in the State of Maryland, to test for MTBE every 3 years. As required, the last test done 2 years ago, result was "non-detectable." He noted that the results were sent to Mr. Rudy approximately 6 months ago.

Mr. Louis Traini came forward to respond to Mr. Rudy’s email, which stated "I found your characterization of cellular RF emissions issues, as stated in the Frederick News Post on September 16, to be professionally misleading and inconsistent for a person…" (it goes on and on). Mr. Traini’s background is as follows: 3 years in the Army as a ground control approach radar technician, worked for the FAA for 34 years, with 15 years as a radar technician at the following sites, the Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Airport surveillance radar, precision approach radar, joint use Air Force/FAA site on top of Red Rock Mountain in northeastern Pennsylvania, part of the northeast air defense command. The point being that they maintained two long range radar systems, the FPS-35 which puts out 5 mega watts, 5 million watts, of power as compared to some cell tower that puts out micro-watts. The FPS-8 puts out 1 mega watt. He worked with these facilities for 13 years and has kept in touch with his co-workers through the years. He, along with the rest of them, had wondered how the high RF power would affect their health in their later years. So far, they can find no one sick or dying of any illness that can be associated in any way.

The meeting adjourned at 9:07 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Gloria Long Rollins

Town Manager